All Posts by Alex Dobie

Hyped Television Commercial
HTC has been releasing a steady trickle of Vines and Instagram videos from its upcoming ad campaign, starring Robert Downey Jr. and an assortment of acronyms. Today the full version of the first ad has leaked on YouTube, giving us an (admittedly blurry) look at a one minute, 44-second cut of the first #HTChange commercial.
Between all of HTC's various vines and...

Prices start at £33 per month on 3G, or £42 p/m on 4G
Vodafone UK has launched HTC's new miniaturized handset, the HTC One Mini. The Mini, which we reviewed a few weeks back, packs a 4.3-inch 720p display and a similar metal chassis to the full-sized HTC One. The 4G LTE-capable handset arrives on Vodafone ahead of the network's 4G switch-on (in London, anyway) on Aug. 29.
The HTC One Mini on...

Samsung W789 unveiled on Samsung China site with quad-core CPU, Android 4.1
A day after yesterday's fairly comprehensive leak, the Samsung W789 ("Hennessy") has been officially unveiled, and it's now out in the open for all to see on Samsung's Chinese website. As rumored, Android-powered flip phone packs dual 3.3-inch HVGA displays, a quad-core 1.2GHz CPU and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. In addition...

Sony will do its thing in Berlin just hours ahead of Samsung Unpacked
It was rumored around a month ago, but now it's official — Sony will hold its IFA press conference on Wednesday, Sept. 4, just hours ahead of Samsung's "Unpacked" event. As the Berlin-based IFA is a general consumer electronics show, Sony will likely be showing everything from cameras to TVs to laptops. But on the Android...

Prices start at C$229, shipping in 1-2 days from the Google Play Store
A few weeks after the new Nexus 7 went on sale in the U.S., Canadians can now get their hands on Google and ASUS' new tablet through the Google Play Store. The Wifi-only 16GB version of the tablet goes for C$229, while the 32GB model will set you back C$269. The tablets are listed as in stock and shipping within 1-2...

Upcoming LG flagship priced at £468 inc. VAT at Clove
After last week's glitzy NYC launch event, we're now starting to hear when and where the LG G2 will be going on sale around the world. In the UK, independent retailer Clove Technology is first with a pre-order listing, showing the G2 priced at a surprisingly reasonable £468 including VAT (£390 exc. VAT). That's not cheap, but it's around £...

LG's tiny budget handset, the Optimus L1 II, has found a home on mobile network Three in the UK. The somewhat confusingly-named 3-incher packs a 240x320 display resolution, 1GHz Snapdragon processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage and a 1540mAh battery. Upon its announcement last week, the L1 II was revealed to have a $95 price point in countries like Vietnam and Russia, so it's likely the phone...

Dual-screen, quad-core device pictured for China Telecom
Flip phones are apparently still a thing, and so Samsung appears to be working on a couple of Android-powered clamshells for the Asian market. Last week brought the first leaked spy shots of the Korea-bound Samsung "Galaxy Folder," and today images of another similar device have leaked through Samsung fansite Sammy Hub.
The images reveal...

Announced in late June, Acer's mid-level Liquid E2 handset has gone on sale on Three UK today. The E2 runs a 1.2GHz quad-core MediaTek processor, and has a 4.5-inch qHD (960x540) display, 1GB of RAM and an 8-megapixel camera. On the networking side, the handset supports 42Mbps DC-HSDPA, but not LTE.
So we're far from the cutting edge of smartphone tech here, but Three is offering some competitive...

Other specs said to include octa-core Exynos CPU, 3GB of RAM, 13-megapixel OIS camera
Samsung's has dropped a few hints that the Galaxy Note 3 will be announced on Sep. 4 in Berlin, Germany, ahead of the IFA trade show, but so far details of the device's internal specs have been difficult to pin down. Today, however, Samsung fansite SamMobile has published a partial spec sheet for the...

Sony looks set to bring high-end imaging as a smartphone accessory
Last month we reported on rumors that Sony was preparing a new type of camera accessory for smartphones, which incorporated full camera hardware into a lens-shaped add-on. Today the source of that leak, SonyAlphaRumors, has published detailed leaked renders and photos of the add-on, which looks just as crazy as was described....

'Arirang' handset produced using 'indigenous technology,' says state media
Funny thing about an open-source operating system -- it can show up in the most unexpected of places. North Korea has unveiled its own Android smartphone through its state-controlled KCNA TV news channel, which recently showed supreme leader Kim Jong-un visiting a "cell phone factory."
Dubbed "AS1201 Arirang" after a...

As we kick off another week of news, reviews and other stuff, there's just time to reflect on a very busy seven days in the Android world. LG finally announced the G2 in New York City. We're getting stuck into the Moto X, having spent some quality time with Moto's leading handset, and Russell Holly joins us live via lovesac for a special Android Central podcast.
Check out the audio and video in...

Injuries as attendees try to shoot down balloons with BB guns for free smartphone
In a less than ideal start to LG's marketing efforts for its new G2 smartphone, 20 people were injured at a recent promotional event in South Korea. According to the Korea Times, the event in Seoul saw balloons filled with coupons redeemable for a free LG G2 released into the air. But LG's plans backfired when...

Loud Nexus 7 on-screen keyboard clicking grinding your gears? You're just one setting change away from a quieter typing experience.
One of the areas in which the new Nexus 7 improves upon the original is its audio -- the new model is equipped with loud, rear-facing stereo speakers. Compared to the first Nexus 7, they're capable of generating a great deal of volume -- and that's great when you'...

ASUS is to manufacture this year's 10-inch Nexus tablet, according to reports from Geek.com
In addition to being behind the highly-praised second-generation Nexus 7, ASUS might be about to replace Samsung as the manufacturer of a refreshed Nexus 10. That's according to Geek.com's Russell Holly, who has a pretty reliable track record in pinning down unannounced Google hardware.
Holly reports...

Google recently rolled out a new look for Maps on Android, bringing it in line with other Google properties and focusing on search, with a prominent search bar at the top of the screen. Now the company says it's going to start displaying local, "relevant" ads at the bottom of the screen after users search within the Maps app for Android and iOS. The new ad system, Google claims, will be "...

Leaked images from China show tablet with camera, microHDMI, stylus slot
In the absence of major tablet design wins for its Tegra 4 chip, it seems NVIDIA might choose to follow up the Shield gaming handheld with an own-branded Android slate. The images, which have appeared on Chinese site MyDrivers, show a concave chassis which shares some design cues with the NVIDIA Shield, with "Tegra Tab"...

We've been seeing UK Nexus 7 pre-order dates for a while, but today we have confirmation that Google and ASUS' latest 7-inch tablet will be arriving on British shores around the end of August. The Taiwanese manufacturer has confirmed to Android Central that the official UK launch date is Aug. 28, which ties in with what some retailers have been saying. (Though curiously, PC World and Currys are...

BlinkFeed, video highlights and more in biggest update yet for the One X+
HTC has finally updated one of last year's high-end handsets, the One X+, to the latest version of its Sense software and the newer Android 4.2.2 OS. The new update brings the One X+ in line with the most recent HTC user interface, with the BlinkFeed home screen experience, automatic video highlights in the gallery app...